


Shall We Skate?

by OceanMyth



Series: Ocean's ATLA Drabbles, Oneshots, and Ficlets [31]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Ice Skating, Northern Water Tribe, Pre-relationship Pining, Takes place during season one, from both parties, though Katara doesn't really realize it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29097999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanMyth/pseuds/OceanMyth
Summary: In which we get a look at why Aang and Katara never brought up Sokka’s midnight rendezvous with Yue.(Aang doesn't know how to ice-skate, and Katara teaches him)
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Series: Ocean's ATLA Drabbles, Oneshots, and Ficlets [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113209
Comments: 6
Kudos: 39





	Shall We Skate?

**Author's Note:**

> A disclaimer—I’ve never gone ice skating. The closest thing I’ve done is sliding around in my boots on a frozen pond. The only thing they have in common is that they are both on the ice and you can really screw yourself up if you fall and land wrong. Ergo, most of this is taken from extensive googling and youtube videos about how to ice-skate, my apologies if I got something wrong

“Katara?”

Katara opens her eyes into the darkness, only registering the voice as belonging to Aang after a long moment of silence. She can make out the outline of his body, crouched a respectful distance away to her left.

“Sorry to wake you,” he whispers, awkwardly fidgeting with his collar. “It’s just that Sokka’s gone, and there’s something—something I wanted to ask you.”

Katara rubs the sleep from her eyes, and yawns. “Sure Aang— what is it?”

He fiddles with something behind his back for a second and then brings out a pair of ice-skates. They look similar to the ones she’d left back at home with Gran Gran, though they have metal blades, instead of the tigerseal-bone blades Dad had spent a whole winter carving. 

The sinew straps seem the same, albeit attached to the metal differently than they would have been back home. It would take her a moment to figure out how to put them on if she wanted to use them—Katara realizes what Aang is asking.

“You want to go ice-skating? At this time of night?” With that, Aang’s awkwardness doubles. He slides away from her a bit, and drops from his crouch, letting his legs fold up under him and tucking his knees up to his chest. He can’t meet her eyes, not that she can really see his face in the darkness, and she’s pretty sure he’s still fidgeting with his collar.

“I’ve just never done it before—and it seemed like fun, and I was wondering if you would show me. And Sokka’s gone, and it— it would just be the two of us,” he replies. She can barely hear him, despite the room being silent.

It’s weird to see Aang so nervous. 

Despite being tired, it doesn’t take Katara long to decide to go with him. Less than a second, if she’s being honest with herself. 

She firmly doesn’t think about how easy her decision was, or what it might mean, even as she pulls on her boots and follows Aang out the door.

They creep out of the guest-house they’d been staying in— Aang was right, Sokka isn’t anywhere to be found, and Katara has to push away a niggle of worry at the realization. They’re  _ safe _ , here in the Northern Water Tribe. If something happens to Sokka, it's because he’s an idiot, not because there was real danger— he’ll be fine. 

Probably.

Wherever he is.

“Where are we going?” Katara asks, pulling her thoughts away from Sokka for the time being. She knows she’ll start worrying about him again in a little while, but for now she has this victory— wherever he is, he’s not  _ here _ , and she and Aang are going ice-skating  _ together, without  _ him,  _ so there _ .

  
  
“Oh uh. Um. I’m not sure? I don’t really know where it would be best to skate, I-” 

  
  
“How about by the practice fields?” Katara interrupts, and she feels her cheeks heat up. Of course Aang doesn’t have a good idea where to go, he’s never done this before— what was she thinking, asking him?

Aang nods, relieved at her suggestion, and they set off.

They make their way down the quiet and still streets of Agna Qel’a, the moonlight washing the snow of the buildings into bright silver, and sparkling on the tips of the waves. The only sound is the gentle lapping of water against the sides of the canal. It feels like their footsteps should be echoing out across the silent city, but the snow of the buildings and the walk muffle the sound, until all that can be heard is the soft squeaking crunch of the dusting of snow that fell earlier that day.

They don’t say much, on the walk over. Katara’s hand bumps against Aang’s a couple times. She pulls it away every time, but there’s a little part of her that enjoys the contact. She wonders if Aang would like to hold hands— just as friends, of course. Katara frowns to herself. She’s not sure holding hands is something that can be done as a friendly gesture—maybe it’ll be safer if she doesn’t ask. 

It would be smarter, certainly.

They reach the edge of the training fields, and stop. There’s no ice, just a smooth flat terrace of snow, the top fuzzy, fresh, and soft.

Katara bends a column of water out of the nearby fountain, and lowers it over the field. She smooths it out into a sheet, and then freezes it into place, leaving a clear glaze of ice across the field. She’ll have to remove it before they leave, but that shouldn’t be  _ too _ hard.

“Right, let’s get those skates on,” she mutters and holds out a hand for the blades. Aang hands them to her quietly, and watches as she crouches down to strap them on to her boots.

It takes her a while to figure out how to strap the blades on. As she’d noticed earlier, the straps aren’t configured in the same way as hers are, and she has to test the ties several times before she’s satisfied with the tension and tightness. When she’s finished with hers, she leans forward so that she’s kneeling in front of Aang. 

Katara grabs his foot, lifting it into her lap on autopilot. She’d done this part before, having always tried to help the youngest kids with their skates, even though she wasn’t much more than a child herself— it had made Mom and Dad laugh, and Gran-gran had said that she had a real knack for teaching. But then Mom died and Dad had left and she hadn’t touched a pair of skates again until now— but that didn’t mean her skill had completely vanished in the endless eon between then and now.

Aang’s arm windmills by her face, breaking her out of her melancholy thoughts, and Katara realizes she probably should have warned him that she was about to yank him so thoroughly off-balance.

  
  
“Oh- I’m sorry Aang,” she mutters, and she knows that she’s blushing. She bends her head over the skate again and concentrates on the knots. The last knot is the trickiest, but she is able to pull it tight, and looks up at Aang. His eyes are wider than usual, and when she’s this close she can see the flecks of deep brown in the dark grey. 

“Right, I’m switching feet, so this is going to feel weird. You can use my shoulder for balance if you want,” she says. Aang’s hand hovers above her shoulder as he sets his foot down, hesitant and unwilling to take her up on the offer, at least until he picks his blade-less boot up and wobbles. It’s probably just her imagination, but she thinks she can feel the heat of his hand through her parka.

She finishes up lacing the second blade to the boot much faster than the first, and stands up.

When Katara steps out onto the ice, she can almost imagine that she’s flying, completely unsupported by anything below, her only connection Aang’s hand still lingering on her shoulder— which he hastily takes back the moment she lets go. The absence is palpable. 

His blush is almost gone by the time she properly notices it, but he’s rubbing the back of his head again and she knows he’s embarrassed.

“I’m going to need that hand back, if I’m going to show you how to skate,” she teases.

Aang is wobbly, as he steps out onto the ice after her. Katara quickly discovers that holding his hand won’t be enough, and changes to a steady grip on his elbow instead.

“Careful there,” she says when he tips forward, nearly falling on his face. Aang pushes off, and she lets go— he’s quite stable on his skates already, finding a steadiness that had eluded her for weeks after her first time on the ice. 

Aang gets halfway across the ice, slowly picking up speed, before an alarmed look spreads across his face— 

“Katara! How do I stop!?”

Katara’s eyes widen. 

It’s too late. 

Aang goes flying off across the ice into the snow— it’s a good thing there’s plenty of fresh powder on that side of the area, his fall is almost completely cushioned. Katara giggles.

“What’s so funny!” Aang demands. He’s still sprawled face down in the snow like a barnaclestar and Katara can see that his whole face is bright red. It’s a funny contrast against the blue of his arrow.

“Nothing— well, not nothing. You’re just normally so graceful.” Aang’s blush fades slightly, and he starts trying to pick himself up.

“Thanks. I think,” he mutters, and Katara slides forwards to help him. She drops onto one knee on the ice, and Aang tucks his hand into the crook of her arm as he stands up.

She’s never really noticed how big his hands are before— they’re not as broad as Sokka’s hands, but much broader than hers, and his fingers are long enough that if he wrapped his hand around her wrist, his fingers would touch. Katara tugs him to his feet.

“Alright, now don’t move until I tell you to,” she says, trying to hold back another giggle. “You’re going to want to balance towards the inside of your skate to start with— feel how there are two edges?” Aang nods, and she continues.

“Use the inside one to start with, it’ll give you better control of your glide.”

Slowly, Aang sets out back across the icy expanse towards her. He’s more cautious this time, and he makes it back to her without any trouble. She should be envious, that he’s picked it up so fast. It took her months to work up the courage to attempt a jump for the first time. Spirits— if it had been a scant few weeks earlier, she would have been envious. 

But she’s not, not anymore.

Instead of watching Aang, she lets herself spiral across the ice, spinning fast and free and she’s laughing. The ice is slick under her blades, but she is the one in control of where she’s going. 

They spin in spirals, never touching, not quite, and then separating once again. The cold night air is a barrier between them, one Katara feels as keenly as if it was made of stone. Aang is far more daring than she had been, trying a couple of awkward half-jumps before nearly falling again, which put an end to the jumps.

Aang’s laughing too, and then the two of them slide to a stop in the middle of the ice. Aang’s smile crinkles the edges of his grey eyes. One of Katara’s hands has found its way into Aang’s and she knows she’s blushing. 

Just a little.

“We should probably head back,” she says, knowing that it's true, no matter how much she wants to stay here and skate with Aang until the sun comes up. He nods, and the two of them push off toward the edge of the ice.

  
  


They walk back through the silent city, hands bumping together like before. Clouds have rolled in, while they were too busy skating and laughing to notice, and the stars have been hidden from view. The water in the canals is black and dark as it laps at the sides of the canal in the shadows.

Aang’s hand wraps around hers.

Apparently you  _ can _ hold hands as just friends.

They’re back at the guesthouse before Katara can fully process Aang’s hand in hers, the pressure and strange way his fingers wrap around her mitten, and then Aang is letting go again so that they can take off their boots and get ready to crawl back into bed. 

Sokka’s still not back yet. 

Katara musters up her courage, and leans in to press a kiss against Aang’s cheek. 

“Thanks Aang,” she whispers, before climbing back into her bedroll, among the furs. “I had fun tonight.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah the title is a YOI reference.
> 
> I'm tired and lazy today ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Tell me what you think in the comments, or on tumblr @justoceanmyth!


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